


Absence Makes the Heart Grow Fonder

by pinksnowboots



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, and also love memes but that's not relevant to the story, and guanghong is..., definitely not complaining, leo and guanghong are Innocent and Pure, leo is clingy and affectionate, pure fluff, references to victuuri, sweet innocent boyfriends
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-15
Updated: 2016-12-15
Packaged: 2018-09-08 17:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,708
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8854735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinksnowboots/pseuds/pinksnowboots
Summary: “You’re affectionate today,” Guanghong noted, lying on the bed with one of Leo’s arms flung across his waist.“Hey, can you blame me?” Leo said. “Do you know how hard it is to live eight time zones away from your favorite person?”Guanghong appeared to consider the question, “No, not really. Phichit’s only one time zone away from me.”





	

Leo meets him at the airport.

Guanghong tells him three times that he doesn’t have to, that it’s not like it’s Leo’s home country, it’s not like they didn’t just see each other at the Cup of China and it’s not like they won’t see each other throughout the competition so there’s no reason Leo needs to drag himself back to the airport to meet Guanghong instead of sleeping off the jet lag before the competition officially starts.

Leo’s having none of any of these very logical reasons, and after three increasingly halfhearted protests, Guanghong gives in.

When he sees Leo waving excitedly at him right outside customs, he’s happy that he did. It’s comforting to see a familiar face, especially when that familiar face looks overjoyed to see him.

It’s also funny to see the curious sidelong glances of the girls who have been lurking around Leo, having figured out that he’s someone at least slightly important even if they can’t quite place why.

It’s even funnier to see the girls’ eyes either widen or narrow when Leo practically throws himself at Guanghong, envelops him in a hug, and doesn’t let go for a full three minutes.

“Leo,” Guanghong gently prods him, “I think people are staring.”

“Yep.” Leo answers into Guanghong’s neck, unconcerned.

Guanghong chuckles, “You saw me less than a month ago.”

“Well, you could say it like that. Or you could say that I haven’t seen you in almost a month.”

“Well, when you put it like that...” Guanghong concedes the point, because having a best friend who lives on another continent is hard and at this point, the damage is already done and it doesn’t matter if he enjoys the inappropriately long hug for a little while longer.

Leo eventually lets him go when he realizes that Guanghong’s coach is standing by as patiently as she can manage even though she looks like she wants nothing more than to get to the hotel and pass out.

Leo walks with them to the baggage claim, listening fondly as Guanghong tells him about how they almost missed their flight because a well meaning airline employee tried to speak rudimentary Chinese to them and told them to go to gate 14 instead of gate 40.

They used to talk nonstop when they first saw each other before competitions, tripping over words in their hurry to share every important thing that had happened in their life since they’d last been together in person.

Nowadays, they talked almost everyday on WeChat and Leo’s urge to talk a mile a minute was replaced by the urge to touch Guanghong constantly, as if to remind himself that this was real, they were actually in the same place.

“I can’t believe we’re both finalists in the Grand Prix.” Guanghong remarks, mirroring his thoughts. “What’s that English expression? ‘Punch me, I must be dreaming?’“

“It’s pinch me, not punch me.” Leo punctuated his correction by gently pinching Guanghong’s arm.

“I didn’t ask you to demonstrate!” Guanghong pinched him back playfully. “But pinch definitely makes more sense.”

At the baggage claim, Leo waited til Guanghong was distracted, staring intently at the conveyor belt. Then he pinched him again, in the side this time.

Guanghong wheeled on him, all the focus that was on the baggage claim now turned on Leo as he attacked him with a flurry of pokes and pinches.

“Okay, okay!” Leo wheezed as he batted away Guanghong’s hands, “Truce, you win!”

“I guess we’re definitely not dreaming.” Guanghong joked, deadpan.

Leo hugged him again, just because he could, only letting go when Guanghong found his bag and accidentally elbowed Leo in the stomach as he tried to get to it.

Guanghong was right; being at the Grand Prix Final together did seem like a dream. Two years prior (the year that Yuuri Katsuki and Victor Nikiforov had shocked the figure skating world in more ways than one), neither of them had qualified. The following year, Guanghong made it to the finals and placed 4th overall, but Leo took the season off to be with his family as his grandmother fell ill and eventually died.

Even though Guanghong had been countries away, he’d been a major source of support for Leo during that time, sending him pictures of the competitions he was missing to keep him up to date and due to the time difference, sending him reassuring messages in the middle of the night that Leo read when he woke up every morning.

During that year, they’d seen each other less than they ever had before, but they’d also grown closer.

Absence may make the heart grow fonder, Leo thought, sitting next to Guanghong in the taxi. But I like this a lot better.

Being together in person meant that he could see his best friend’s facial expressions as he talked. He could hear his accent as he spoke English as well as the little bits of Chinese when he talked to himself, trying to figure out a word. He could lean in close to Guanghong in the taxi, close enough to feel his body heat in the chill December air.

Leo had always been a very tactile person, and he became even more so with Guanghong.

He hugged Guanghong at the airport, tapped his fingers against Guanghong’s knee as they listened to music together in the taxi. When they got to the hotel, Leo helped drop off their luggage and Guanghong’s coach, and then dragged Guanghong to his room to hang out and tackled him onto one of the beds.

“You’re affectionate today,” Guanghong noted, lying on the bed with one of Leo’s arms flung across his waist.

“Hey, can you blame me?” Leo said. “Do you know how hard it is to live eight time zones away from your favorite person?”

Guanghong appeared to consider the question, “No, not really. Phichit’s only one time zone away from me.”

Faux-offended, Leo shoved Guanghong away. Guanghong caught himself, laughing, just before he fell off the bed. Still chuckling, he settled himself next to Leo, mirroring his pose by lying on his stomach, chin propped on his arms.

“I’m just kidding,” Guanghong said, turning to make eye contact with Leo. “I hate that you live eight time zones away too.”

Leo smiled at him, forgiving, and they lay together in silence for a moment.

“Leo,” Guanghong broke the silence. “Am I really your favorite person?”

“Yeah.” Leo replied. “Easily.”

“I don’t believe you.” Guanghong said, half-joking. “So you’re claiming you like me better than Phichit.”

“Don’t tell him I said this.” Leo whispered conspiratorially. “But I definitely like you better than Phichit.”

“Really?” Guanghong sounded pleased. “Do you like me better than...Enrique Iglesias?”

“Well,” Leo pretends to consider the question seriously. “As much as I like his music, Enrique Iglesias doesn’t send me cute cat pictures at 4 am when he knows I’ve had a rough day. So I’d have to say yes, I’d like you better.”

Guanghong turned away, embarrassed, but Leo could see that he was smiling.

“Hey Guanghong, you know what?”

“What?” Guanghong answered, not turning to meet Leo’s eye’s.

“I like you more than Yuuri likes katsudon.”

“I call bullshit.” Guanghong said, using an expression he’d learned from Leo as he finally turned back to face him. “No one could like anything more than Yuuri likes katsudon.”

“Fine. I like you as much as Yuuri likes katsudon.”

“I can live with that.” Guanghong smiled, and they lapsed into comfortable silence.

After a few moments, Guanghong spoke up, “Hey, you know that you’re my favorite person too, right?”

Leo felt a blush rise on his face. “What about Phichit?”

Guanghong rolled his eyes. “I told you, I was joking. Phichit is great, but I like you better.”

“Really?” Leo asked, fishing for compliments.

“Really.” Guanghong replied. “I like you more than JJ likes himself.”

Laughing, Leo replied without thinking, “I’m pretty sure you’d have to be in love with me to like me more than JJ likes himself.”

A split second after the words came out of his mouth, Leo stopped laughing as he noticed how Guanghong’s eyes grew wide and heard him draw a sharp breath.

He wracked his brain to think of something to say to make the situation lighthearted again, but Guanghong beat him to the punch.

“Yeah. Something like that.”

Not breaking eye contact, Leo turned the words over in his head, trying to figure out just what Guanghong meant, and...

_Oh._

Leo lifted a hand to gently touch Guanghong’s cheek, and even though Guanghong looked so fragile that he might break, he didn’t flinch at Leo’s touch.

“Guanghong,” He breathed more than said.

“Yes?”

“I,” Leo faltered, then continued, drawing strength from Guanghong’s delicate but strong gaze. “I like you more than JJ likes himself too.”

The glassy tension in Guanghong’s shoulders shattered and he smiled, relaxed into Leo’s touch.

They lay together in silence for a moment, then Guanghong asked, tentatively, “So, what does that make us?”

“Boyfriends.” Leo replied. “At least, if you want us to be?”

“Boyfriends.” Guanghong repeated. “I like the sound of that.”

Leo smiled and kissed Guanghong on the nose, blushing.

“I do too.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------

The next day Leo was watching Otabek’s short program with Guanghong slid up to him with a serious expression.

“Hey Leo.”

“Hey Guanghong.” Leo parroted. “What’s up?”

“Well,” Guanghong started, sounding surprisingly shy for someone who had definitely made out with Leo the night before.

“Since we’re...boyfriends,” Guanghong continued, blushing slightly at the word and glancing around to see if anyone was listening. “Does that mean I can hold your hand in public? Like, now?”

“Of course.” Leo said, taking Guanghong’s hand and squeezing it to punctuate his answer.

“And you don’t think anyone will be mad?”

Leo laughed. “Guanghong, Victor and Yuuri practically made out on the ice two years ago, I don’t think anyone will bat an eye at us holding hands.”

Guanghong hummed agreement, lacing his fingers more tightly with Leo’s.

“Plus,” Leo added. “Some of our fans already write fanfiction about the two of us.”

“They do?” Guanghong looked scandalized. “Wait, how do you know about this?”

Now it was Leo’s turn to blush.

“Ummm...no reason.”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry this is so rushed, it's unedited and I think I might've accidentally switched tenses a few paragraphs in, but I needed to express my love for Guanghong and Leo and their pure and sweet relationship and even though I'm not generally a fluffy writer as a rule, this is what happened.
> 
> Any and all comments would be incredibly appreciated! Or if you wanna talk to me about Guanghong/Leo (or any other YOI characters, major or minor), you can come chat with me over at chunjibolton.tumblr.com
> 
> (Also if you find any typos or errors I didn't catch please feel free to let me know! My computer's keyboard has a weak G key so I kept typing Guanghong as Guanghon by accident...)


End file.
